The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two British Academy Film Awards, and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Her most popular film roles were: World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), radio journalist Marcia Jeffries in A Face in the Crowd (1957), wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and the worn-out housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud (1963), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She featured as the matriarch in the television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971); her role as Olivia Walton was re-cast for the series it inspired, The Waltons.
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was cancelled in May 1974, due to the couple's divorce, but the duo reunited in 1976 for the similarly formatted The Sonny & Cher Show, which ran for two seasons, ending August 29, 1977.
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. was an American theatre, radio, and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. Heflin won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Johnny Eager (1942). He also had memorable roles in Westerns such as Shane (1953), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and Gunman's Walk (1958).
Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill, known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s such as The Man in Grey (1943) and was one of the most popular movie stars in Britain in the 1940s. She continued her acting career for another 50 years.
The 31st Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1959, to honor the best films of 1958. The night was dominated by Gigi, which won nine Oscars, breaking the previous record of eight set by Gone with the Wind and tied by From Here to Eternity and On the Waterfront.
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? is a 1952 comedy film distributed by Universal-International, directed by Douglas Sirk, and stars Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn, and Gigi Perreau. It is loosely based upon the Eleanor Porter novel ,"Oh Money! Money!". Set in the 1920s, the film leans heavily on period detail, such as flappers, the Charleston and raccoon coats. It is named for the jazz song "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" which was a hit for The California Ramblers during the '20s. Though the song is sung during the movie, its lyrics have no particular relation to the plot.
Family Honeymoon is a 1949 domestic comedy film made by Universal International, directed by Claude Binyon, and written by Dane Lussier, based on novel by Homer Croy. It was shot in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.
Gigi Perreau is an American film and television actress.
Peter Miles was the stage name of American child actor Gerald Richard Perreau-Saussine. After his film career ended, he turned to writing under the pen name Richard Miles.
James Walter Hunt is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as David in Invaders from Mars (1953). In the 1986 remake of the same film he plays the police chief.
Green Dolphin Street is a 1947 historical drama disaster film starring Lana Turner, Van Heflin, and Donna Reed, directed by Victor Saville, and produced by Carey Wilson. Based on the 1944 novel Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge, it was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Never a Dull Moment is a 1950 American comedy western film from RKO Pictures, starring Irene Dunne and Fred MacMurray. The film is based on the 1943 book Who Could Ask For Anything More? by Kay Swift. The filming took place between December 5, 1949, and February 1, 1950, in Thousand Oaks, California. It has no relation to the 1968 Disney film of the same name starring Dick Van Dyke and Edward G. Robinson.
Two Weeks with Love is a 1950 romantic musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Roy Rowland and based on story by John Larkin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dorothy Kingsley.
Two Thousand Women is a 1944 British comedy-drama war film about a German internment camp in Occupied France which holds British women who have been resident in the country. Three RAF aircrewmen, whose bomber has been shot down, enter the camp and are hidden by the women from the Germans.
The Big Bounce is a 1969 American drama film directed by Alex March, based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard and starring Ryan O'Neal, Van Heflin, and Leigh Taylor-Young in what was the first of several films based on Leonard's crime novels. Taylor-Young was nominated for a Laurel Award for her performance in the film. The film was shot on location in Monterey and Carmel, California.
Mill Run Playhouse was a 1,600 seat theatre in the round in Niles, Illinois. It was built in 1965 on the grounds of the Golf Mill Shopping Center. It was scheduled to open in June 1965 but torrential rains delayed the opening to July 2, 1965. It was demolished in August 1984. Its last show was a performance by Lou Rawls on August 1.
Happening '68 was a rock-and-roll variety show produced by Dick Clark Productions, which aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network. The show followed American Bandstand on Saturday afternoons. Happening '68 premiered on January 6, 1968 and was popular enough that ABC added a weekday spin-off. It's Happening ran on Mondays through Fridays from July 15, 1968 through October 25, 1968. When 1968 ended, Happening '68 became just Happening, which was canceled in October 1969.
Reunion in Reno is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Mark Stevens, Peggy Dow and Gigi Perreau. The screenplay concerns a girl who hires an attorney to get her a divorce from her parents. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Bernard Herzbrun and Nathan Juran.
